Sana Khadar

What are some key beliefs that people kind of have about their ability to tell when someone is lying?

Because, you know, there is a lot that's said out there about body language and eye contact.

What are some of the beliefs that people have that might not be entirely correct?

So the idea that if someone's lying, they'll be fidgeting or shifty-eyed or gulping or whatever, that's all incorrect?

What do you mean?

Oh, right.

Because they don't feel the shame and the fear associated with that crime.

So where does this idea that not making eye contact and being fidgety or other body language stuff can tell us if someone is lying?

Have we taken patterns in a general normal population and just applied that to criminal populations as well wrongly?

Are there any behavioral cues that are grounded in evidence?

Like, is there anything that we know that can suggest someone is lying behaviorally?

And that is very important to know, because when it comes to jury trials, juries are tasked with determining the credibility of the witness in front of them.

And yet, these misconceptions about body language persist.

And research tells us that people vastly overestimate their ability to spot a liar.

Wow, they were very confident.

Oh, wow.

Why is that?

To not be able to accurately always know when someone's lying?

What's the evolutionary benefit there?

So if I said, it's great to see you when I meet someone and inside I don't really care or it's terrible to see them, yeah, that would be awkward.